Dec 13 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks traded lower on
Tuesday with Singapore shares falling for a fourth straight
session, as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal
Reserve's rates review and for clues on U.S. monetary policy
following Donald Trump's election win last month.
The Fed is widely expected to hike interest rates for the
first time this year at a two-day meeting that will begin later
in the day, with markets pricing in a near 100 percent chance of
a quarter percentage point increase to the central bank's target
range of 0.25 to 0.50 percent.
Despite the fact that oil prices rose on Monday, investors
are on the sidelines ahead of the Fed meeting, said Taye Shim,
head of research at Daewoo Securities Indonesia.
The markets are concerned that a rise in commodity prices
would likely push inflation higher which in turn would lead to
the Fed raising interest rates faster than expected, he added.
Crude oil prices came off their highs after hitting their
highest since mid-2015 on Monday on the back of a weekend deal
by OPEC and non-OPEC producers to curtail output.
Singapore shares fell as much as 0.4 percent, weighed
down mainly by consumer goods and industrial stocks. Hongkong
Land Holdings Ltd shed 2 percent and was among the top
losers on the index.
Philippine market dropped as much as 1 percent, hurt
by a selloff in industrials and consumer cyclical stocks.
Conglomerate GT Capital Holdings Inc fell 3.6 percent
and was among the worst performers.
Indonesian stocks fell as much as 0.8 percent
dragged down by consumer goods stocks. The country's biggest
instant-noodle maker PT Indofood Sukses Makmur fell as
much as 1.6 percent.
Vietnam and Malaysia saw lack-lustre trade,
while Thai shares were marginally lower.
For Asian Companies click;
SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: Change at 0418 GMT
Market Current Prev close Pct Move
Singapore 2944.21 2952.19 -0.27
Bangkok 1523.11 1526.32 -0.21
Manila 6817.6 6868.89 -0.75
Jakarta 5270.229 5308.126 -0.71
Kuala Lumpur 1643.05 1641.42 0.10
Ho Chi Minh 658.45 659.7 -0.19
Change on year
Market Current End 2015 Pct Move
Singapore 2944.21 2882.73 2.13
Bangkok 1523.11 1288.02 18.25
Manila 6817.6 6952.08 -1.93
Jakarta 5270.229 4593.008 14.74
Kuala Lumpur 1643.05 1692.51 -2.92
Ho Chi Minh 658.45 579.03 13.72
(Reporting by Anusha Ravindranath in Bengaluru; Editing by
Amrutha Gayathri)